9780130253804

0130253804

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Summary

This collection of articles explores the relationship between the structure and culture of religion and various aspects of social life in the United States. Based on both classic and contemporary research in the sociology of religion, it highlights a variety of research methods and theoretical approaches in exploring the ways in which religious values, beliefs and practices shape the worldoutsideof church, synagogue, or mosque walls while simultaneously being shapedbythe non-religious forces operating in that world. Many readings from drawn popular sources--e.g., newspapers and magazines--and although many of the readings are about religion in the Christian tradition, there are also readings about religion outside the American context (e.g., Poland, England, El Salvador, Nicaragua), and beyond the Christian tradition (e.g., Judaism, alternative religions, Hindu traditions).Classic Sociological Definitions Of Religion; Belief And Ritual; Religious Experience; Race, Ethnicity And Religion; Gender And Religion; Social Class And Religion; Sexual Identity And Religion; The Secularization Debate; Religious Organizations, Institutions And Authority; Alternative Religions; Media And Religion; Politics And Religion; Science And Religion; Social Movements And Religion.For anyone interested in the sociology of religion or religious perspectives on social issues.

Table of Contents

Preface

ix

Topic Matrix

xiii

Introduction

1

(4)

Wade Clark Roof

PART I CLASSIC SOCIOLOGICAL DEFINITIONS OF RELIGION

5

(25)

Introduction to Classical Sociological Definitions of Religion

5

(4)

Patricia Chang

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life

9

(6)

Emile Durkheim

From Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law

15

(1)

Karl Marx

Religion as a Cultural System

16

(7)

Clifford Geertz

The Sacred Canopy

23

(7)

Peter Berger

PART II BELIEF AND RITUAL

30

(25)

Introduction to Belief and Ritual

30

(5)

Susanne Monahan

Passover's Hustle and Bustle

35

(2)

Patrice Gaines

Salvation on Sand Mountain

37

(6)

Dennis Covington

Civil Religion in America

43

(4)

Robert Bellah

Liminality and Communitas

47

(8)

Victor Turner

PART III RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

55

(23)

Introduction to Religious Experience

55

(3)

William MacDonald

Angels

58

(3)

Kenneth Woodward

The Reality of the Unseen

61

(4)

William James

Religious Experience

65

(5)

Wayne Proudfoot

Ways of Seeing Ecstasy in Modern Society

70

(8)

David Yamane

Megan Polzer

PART IV RACE, ETHNICITY, AND RELIGION

78

(37)

Introduction to Race, Ethnicity, and Religion

78

(5)

Michael Emerson

Becoming American by Becoming Hindu

83

(6)

Prema Kurien

Cultural Conflicts and Identity: Second-Generation Hispanic Catholics in the United States

89

(7)

Wade Clark Roof

Christel Manning

Sacrifice of Praise: Emotion and Collective Participation in an African-American Worship Service

96

(8)

Timothy Nelson

Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States

Protestantism and the American Labor Movement: The Christian Spirit in the Gilded Age

157

(5)

Herbert Gutman

Cultures of Solidarity

162

(3)

Rick Fantasia

The Catholic Church in the Nicaraguan Revolution: A Gramscian Analysis

165

(8)

Dana Sawchuck

PART VII SEXUAL IDENTITY AND RELIGION

173

(23)

Introduction to Sexual Identity and Religion

173

(3)

William Mirola

Keeping the Faith

176

(4)

Mubarik Dahir

Chuck Colbert

Allen Flippen

Culture Wars: The Challenge of Homosexuality

180

(3)

James D. Hunter

Dare to Differ: Gay and Lesbian Catholics' Assessments of Official Gatholic Positions on Sexuality

183

(6)

Andrew K. T. Yip

Negotiating a Religious Identity: The Case of the Gay Evangelical

189

(7)

Scott Thumma

PART VIII THE SECULARIZATION DEBATE

196

(29)

Introduction to the Secularization Debate

196

(5)

Susanne C. Monahan

Secularism and Pluralism

201

(3)

Peter Berger

Secularization and Its Discontents

204

(9)

Bryan Wilson

An Unsecular America

213

(12)

Roger Finke

PART IX RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, AND AUTHORITY

225

(33)

Introduction to Religious Organizations, Institutions, and Authority

225

(6)

Susanne C. Monahan

AME Zion Megachurch Leaves Denomination---Christian Century

231

(1)

Priest and Nun Barred from Ministry to Gays---Christian Century

232

(1)

Domination and Stratification

233

(3)

Max Weber

The Churching of America: Why ``Mainline'' Denominations Decline

236

(5)

Roger Finke

Rodney Stark

Authority and Controversial Policy: The Churches and Civil Rights

241

(11)

James R. Wood

Some Futures for Religious Leadership

252

(6)

Jackson Carroll

PART X ALTERNATIVE RELIGIONS

258

(46)

Introduction to Alternative Religions

258

(5)

Wendy W. Young

An Army Controversy: Should Witches be Welcome? Flap Over Wiccans Tests Military's Religious Tolerance

263

(3)

Hanna Rosin

Modern Alternative Religions in the West

266

(17)

J. Gordon Melton

The Unification Church

283

(7)

Eileen Barker

The Church of Scientology: Lightning Rod for Cultural Boundary Conflicts

290

(7)

Mary Farrell Bednarowski

Apocalypse at Waco

297

(7)

James Tabor

PART XI MEDIA AND RELIGION

304

(33)

Introduction to Media and Religion

304

(4)

Eric Gormly

The Source of the Problem?

308

(10)

Stewart Hoover

S. Venturelli

D. Wagner

Televangelism: Redressive Ritual Within a Larger Social Drama

318

(8)

Bobby C. Alexander

Television Drama as Sacred Text

326

(11)

Quentin J. Schulze

PART XII POLITICS AND RELIGION

337

(37)

Introduction to Politics and Religion

337

(5)

Richard Wood

Will It Be Coffee, Tea, or He? Religion Was Once a Conviction. Now It Is a Taste

342

(2)

Charles Krauthammer

Catholicism in the United States: From Private to Public Denomination

344

(7)

Jose Casanova

The Political Mobilization of Evangelical Protestants

351

(9)

Kenneth Wald

The Religious Roots of Rebellion

360

(14)

Phillip Berryman

PART XIII SCIENCE AND RELIGION

374

(25)

Introduction to Science and Religion

374

(4)

Eric Gormly

William MacDonald

How the Heavens Go

378

(2)

Kenneth Woodward

Essays on Religion

380

(2)

Georg Simmel

First Principles

382

(5)

Herbert Spencer

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

387

(12)

Carl Sagan

Is the Universe Absurd?

399

(1)

Paul Davies

PART XIV SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND RELIGION

399

(36)

Introduction to Social Movements and Religion

399

(5)

William Mirola

I Have a Dream

404

(2)

Martin Luther King, Jr.

When Will Revolutionary Movements Use Religion?

406

(5)

Leland Robinson

Correcting a Curious Neglect, or Bringing Religion Back In

411

(8)

Christian Smith

Church Culture as a Strategy of Action in the Black Community

419

(8)

Mary Pattillo-McCoy

Pastoral Mobilization and Contention: The Religious Foundations of the Solidarity Movement in Poland

427

(8)

Maryjane Osa

Text Credits

435

(4)

Photo Credits

439

Excerpts

PrefaceAlthough we teach in very different settings--a mid-sized state university, a private Catholic college, and a private university--each of us looks forward to our opportunities to teach Sociology of Religion to undergraduate students. There is something about the study of the social aspects of religion that makes for a good class, a class that teaches itself. Students who take a Sociology of Religion class seem especially motivated to struggle with the material, and they typically have a wide range of personal experiences to draw upon as they apply abstract principles to instances of religion in their own lives.The study of religion in modern society is an exciting enterprise. No matter what you are interested in--the structure and experiences of particular religious groups, the overall state of religion in society, religious belief, ritual and experience, the relation between religion and other social institutions--there is a plethora of resources including books, journals, and research monographs you can draw on. Unfortunately, however, securing copyright permissions for "course packets" has become increasingly complex and difficult. We hope that by constructing a reader that covers a broad range of topics we can meet our own needs as well as those of other instructors who teach in this area.The focus of this reader is on the structure and culture of religion in the United States. Thus, many of the readings are about religion in the Christian tradition. Nonetheless, where it was feasible, we included readings about religion outside the American context (e.g., Poland, England, El Salvador, Nicaragua), and beyond the Christian tradition (e.g., Judaism, alternative religions, Hindu traditions). This reader is not intended to be a survey of religion, but rather an introduction to the social aspects of religion, particularly within the United States.The readings are arranged by topic, and each topic has a brief introductory essay that outlines some key issues and orients students to the readings. Some of the essays focus on defining concepts related to the readings; others provide an overall framework students can use to understand how the readings fit together and what they contribute to our knowledge about the topic. We also include readings from popular sources--newspapers, magazines, and the like--to help students connect more abstract material with things that they see in their day-to-day lives. For instructors, we provide a cross-reference table that provides suggestions for other topics for which an article might be appropriate.Following a brief introduction by Wade Clark Roof about what is most interesting and exciting in religion today, we present classical sociological definitions of religion by theorists including Emil Durkheim, Clifford Geertz, Karl Marx, and Peter Berger. In teaching the Sociology of Religion, we have been amazed at how much discussion these classical statements generate among students. We continue with sections that focus on the "stuff" of religion--belief, ritual, and religious experience. We then present several sections on how religion is related to various aspects of identity: race and ethnicity, gender, social class, and sexual identity. We put this material early in the volume because religious participation has a powerful ability to shape how we see ourselves-and how we interact with others.Next, we move to structural concerns. We introduce students to the secularization debate that has raged recently in the sociology of religion: Is religion declining or is it thriving? We follow with sections on organizational aspects of official religion--authority, organizations, and institutions--and on alternative religions. Because religion does not exist in a vacuum, we also include sections examining the relationship between religion and different social institutions: med